Merce Cunningham's Legacy: Influences on Contemporary Dance Practices
Ana Arledge
George Washington University
Abstract
Once considered radical, American choreographer Merce Cunningham redefined modern dance by prioritizing abstraction, separating music from movement, and embracing chance-based compositional structures. His emphasis on clarity, strength, and flexibility in the body, combined with directional shifts, rhythmic complexity, and spatial independence, sparked postmodern trends that challenged traditional dance conventions. Since Cunningham's death in 2009 and the disbandment of his company in 2011, his legacy has been preserved through the Merce Cunningham Trust, which licenses instructors and curates the Dance Capsules, a digital archive encompassing 86 works from 1942 to 2009. However, without direct access to Cunningham himself, transmission of the technique now relies on interpretation by second- and third-generation artists.
This thesis investigates how Cunningham’s pedagogical and choreographic methods endure and transform when interpreted by contemporary choreographers. Through embodied research, archival study, and choreographic experimentation, I examine how Kyle Abraham, Liz Gerring, and John Scott engage with Cunningham’s legacy in their own creative processes. These artists—recognized for their distinct voices and access to the Trust—represent a privileged intersection between preservation and reinterpretation, raising critical questions about authorship, influence, and innovation in dance lineage.
Personal engagement included sustained training in the Cunningham Technique, access to archival materials provided by the Trust, and firsthand experience performing two restaged works, Scramble (1967) and Signals (1970), staged by former Cunningham Company member Silas Riener. In response, I choreographed an original work, Pentaxis, performed by five students from the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. These performances demonstrate how Cunningham’s principles continue to inform contemporary choreographic practice while also allowing for personal and aesthetic reinterpretation. This project offers a critical contribution to the ongoing dialogue about how legacy in contemporary practice is maintained, not through replication alone, but through generative artistic inquiry and innovation.
